Okay I said this in a reply elsewhere, but I’m going to give it its own post also
So yes, there are absolutely some Holocaust parallels what with ordinary people hiding Jedi in hidden rooms and a freedom trail out of empire controlled space (also slavery underground railroad parallels) but can we not just make this into a Jedi as victims thing, and remember that the episode also showed how much the Jedi were *still* holding onto their faith, decorating the room with symbols of their faith, and writing proverbs on the walls?
That they still tried to find hope that they would get through this and again be able to practice freely? Please don’t just say that the parallels of Jedi to Jews is that of being victims. There’s more to it than that.
Anyway back to my fic about all the Jedi who left their marks on the Wall now and have a whole lot of feelings about how they were not just doing it for themselves, but for all the other Jedi who might see it, and the ones who would never get the chance to.
girl help im experiencing shrimp emotions about the Jedi refugee bunker messages
It’s–these are the barest handful of survivors of a galaxy-wide genocide, and none of them will ever see another of their kind again. So they carve their names into the walls, just in case. Maybe one of your friends is still alive and you’ll never see each other again, will not, cannot, but the Force is with you still and maybe someday they’ll see your name and know you got this far. Maybe someday you’ll see theirs.
But then it’s not just the names, it’s–the sigils. The blessings. The Jedi maxims.
A smuggling ring that evacuates what should have been the next generation. These Force-sensitive children who will never, for their own safety, be raised among their own kind. Will not. Cannot.
Separate the lock from the key. Scatter the survivors, never in the same place, so that only one (one of these Jedi who take strength in connections, who were nevermeant to be alone) can be lost at a time. In case there’s an after. In case someday, somewhere, for someone, there’s an after.
The Archives were seared from existence. Surviving Jedi temples and outposts and scattered texts are reduced to rubble every day whenever they’re found and it would be madness to send a child looking anyway. So how do you pass on what little remains? How do you tell these frightened children who should have been Jedi what they had the right to know? How do you give them the culture that could have been theirs?
Scratches on concrete. No way to give them long messages, no time to try. This is the only chance you will ever have to tell them something, to make sure the core of who the Jedi were survive, to try to help them understand. To preserve.
What do you pass on?
Proverbs. Meditation mantras that double as survival advice. The sigil of your Order, all the comfort your kind have left. (The base of what will someday become the rebel starbird, rising from ashes, but they don’t know that yet, half of them will die before they see it.)
What do you pass on? Only what’s most important. Only what cannot ever be lost.
The Force will be with you always. Only when your eyes are closed can you truly see the Way. For light and life.
They (the Jedi) trained more than anything else to understand the transitional nature of life, that things are constantly changing and you can’t hold on to anything. You can love things but you can’t be attached to them, you must be willing to let the flow of life and the flow of the Force move through your life, move through you. So that you can be compassionate and loving and caring, but not be possessive and grabbing and holding on to things and trying to keep things the way they are. Letting go is the central theme of the film.
- George Lucas, Star Wars Archives 1999-2005 (2020)
Hmm unpopular opinion maybe but just not agreeing with the Council 100% of the time doesn’t make you a maverick. Jedi aren’t a dictatorship and they aren’t actually expected to blindly follow their leaders without question; in fact, they are taught from childhood that they should always think for themselves and not go with whatever someone else says. That was, like, half the point of the Ilum arc.
This is a rather telling bit of dialogue, honestly. One would think that the Jedi and the Senate both serve the Republic, as equals, but even this young senator feels sure enough of their power hierarchy to try and order Obi-Wan to do something he does not want to do. After the rise of the Empire, even oppositional senators have more safety than any Jedi. Palpatine may have a special hatred of the Jedi, but I don’t think he’s the type to allow any enemies to run unchecked. It takes him all the way to ANH to build a weapon powerful enough to allow him to destroy a whole planet, and thus eliminate the powerbase of any senators that defy him. Both the Senate and the Jedi are small in number, but their respective social and political power is clearly stratified. This is to say, the Jedi only have that which is afforded to them by the Republic. They are not the political powerhouse that people sometimes make them out to be, and that is one of the reasons it was so easy for Palpatine to turn the whole galaxy against them.
Summary: After years of war, the near destruction of everything he believed in, and the fall of his padawan, Obi-Wan struggles to move on. Thankfully, he has his family, his culture, and the mental discipline they taught him to help.
Satine’s hand brushes against Obi-Wan’s cheek. Her fingertips linger on his cheekbone, just for a moment. Her lips part, ready to ask the question, ready to bind him to her- but then her eyes rest on the tightly wound braid. With the ghost of a touch she reads the promise there, and she knows.
When they meet again an eternity later, separated by a war and by the years and by a strand of hair that has long since been cut off, she sees the ever committed Jedi in his steady eyes.
.
Adi’s aunt frowns over the holo, her expression hard to read. Adi keeps her eyes firm and her attitude respectful, striving to embody the confidance and humility of a Jedi Knight. She’s only a Padawan, but even then it seems to hit the mark.
“You’re very serious about this life, aren’t you?” her aunt says.
There is a long pause. And at last, her aunt commits.
“Stass will go to the Temple.”
.
“But why not?” the boy asks, his eyes supplicant, his mouth hungry. He radiates incomprehension and desperate longing.
Aayla shakes her head, feeling a bit sad, mostly for him.
“I’m a Jedi,” she explains again, “my life is not my own. It belongs to the people we defend and protect.”
“But who would that even hurt, us being together, just for a bit?”
She gives him a single kiss, nothing more than a quick peck so he’ll at least have that to carry with him: being the boy who kissed a Jedi girl - and she shakes her head again.
“You wouldn’t want someone who’d break her commitments.”
.
Rig feels she might just pass out from exhaustion, sweat trickling down into her eyes. She keeps going, moving from patient to patient until her head is buzzing and she can’t tell one moment from the next and the Force is the only thing sustaining her.
A hand settles on her shoulder, a voice speaks of the only transport off world of the month leaving soon.
“I promised I’d stay,” she says. So she does. Jedi keep their promises.
.
“I can master this,” Tiplar insists, copying Tiplee’s stance once again.
Their masters watch from the sidelines.
Tiplee studies her twin sister’s face. This isn’t about Tiplar’s pride and it’s not coming from fear of inadequacy either. There is only pure determination in the Force.
They will both be Jedi Knights. They are meant for this path, and Tiplar will fight to walk in it and be worthy. Nodding, Tiplee resumes the kata.
Or: every occurrence of deliberate and casual, friendly or comforting physical contact between a Jedi and another sentient being in the PT/TCW. (Criteria)
I keep thinking about how Fortress Inquisitorius isn’t shielded and the show made a point of bringing it up and I keep thinking about that line of entombed Jedi and Force-sensitives, I keep thinking about Jedi Master Tera Sinube and his body being held there.
I’m sure it’s a great tool for intimidating anyone they walk down that long hallway, showing them that there’s no mercy here, this is what will happen to you if you don’t bend to our demands and join the Empire, even the children will be tortured and broken if they resist.
But what if it’s more than that?
I keep looking at that terrible, awful hallway, thinking about Obi-Wan having to stare at the face of an old friend, one who had been around for hundreds of years in the Jedi Order, he probably had at least one class taught by Master Sinube.
How terrifying and grisly the whole thing is.
And how it reminded me of something else.
Of one of the most horrific things the Empire ever did:
They used Luminara Unduli’s body as bait for any Jedi who might sense her and try to rescue her. The Grand Inquisitor himself lures Kanan and Ezra in, when they’re looking for her to be Ezra’s teacher, and it’s not until they’re face to face with her corpse that they understand that her Force presence is being used to trick them, to make them think there’s another Jedi in the galaxy that they can help and be helped by.
Obi-Wan doesn’t sense them until he’s face to face with them because his Force abilities are weakened from a decade of disuse, but how many other Jedi are out there, sensing something of Master Sinube or a Jedi youngling that they want to help?
How many other Jedi would mount a rescue mission on Fortress Inquisitorius because they thought a Jedi was in need of them and they could use the help of another Jedi in the galaxy? It’s so tempting, there’s not even any shields, the Inquisitors think they don’t need them, we can do this, we can help a Jedi!
But it’s all lies, it’s the Empire using the dead bodies of Jedi to trick more of them into coming right to them, that torture chamber right down at the end of that very hall. And by the time you’re close enough to realize what’s truly off about their presence, it’s too late. There’s an entire Fortress surrounding you.
And if it were in the context of being mindful and processing the feeling, that would be awesome. Sadly, it’s more “Those feelings are bad and you need to stop feeling that.”
Could you please tell me in which scene is that context obvious? I seem to have missed it no matter how many times I saw TPM.
When I was a teen enjoying the EU (before the prequels), I had always assumed the concept of “bringing balance to the force” wasn’t about destroying one side or the other, but about allowing force users to wield power without becoming corrupted (sith way) and without becoming emotionless zombies (Jedi way).
To me, both sides were clearly fucked and needed Luke to walk the middle line. He allows himself attachments to friends (even peacing out of Jedi training to save his friends) and feels emotions and wears black.
I’m a bit confused by your statement - as far as I’m aware, the “bringing balance to the Force” concept wasn’t established until the prequels, so I’m not sure how you would’ve taken away anything about balance from the EU before that point? Films supercede the EU in terms of intentions and lore, regardless, and I don’t see this interpretation being reflected by the films. Because the Jedi are notemotionless-we see them demonstrating emotion plenty of times in the films! They only ever advocate against letting it interfere with your duties or rule your actions, and they advise people to “be mindful of your feelings” (direct quote from Mace Windu, in TPM), mindful generally referring to awareness and understanding, which is the exact opposite of suppressing or ignoring.
I think it’s a bit disingenuous to frame the Jedi and Sith as opposite extremes. The Sith are going around slaughtering innocents and committing genocide. The Jedi expect their people to exercise self-control and be selfless. Even if you think they somehow go too far with that (which I disagree with, but to each their own), that’s not really comparable, and the best path is not in the middle of those two, it’s much, much closer to the Jedi side of things than it ever would be to the Sith.
I also disagree that Luke walks that middle line. The only thing he challenges his mentors on in ROTJ is the idea that Vader, specifically, cannot be saved. In everything else he’s in keeping with and honoring their teachings, not rejecting them. And the moment when he runs off in ESB is not framed as Luke being in the right. His attachment to them is not a good thing within the narrative of Star Wars, and it’s in fact exploited multiple times - in ROTJ, he reacts poorly when Leia is threatened, and he’s only just able to pull himself back from the brink when he severs Vader’s mechanical hand and recognizes where the path he’s on leads. He overcomes his attachment in that moment, and that’s what’s narratively condoned, not indulging or embracing them (because attachment is not the same thing as caring for or having a bond with someone; it’s specifically the inability to let go).
And as I already said, the prequel Jedi demonstrate that they feel emotion just as Luke does. They just strive not to let it affect their judgement. Nor does there seem to be any prohibition against wearing black among the prequel Jedi. Luminara wears black, for instance, and there’s no indication that that’s frowned upon.
Yes, I am obsessed with people who have dedicated their lives to helping others, who always try to do the right thing, who teach that while it’s ok to have emotions it’s never ok to use those emotions against others, who teach compassion towards those who have none for others.
I am obsessed with people who never try to accumulate wealth or political power. Who teach calm and rational approach. Who don’t ever make any difference based on gender, race, species, wealth…
Who above all else respect tiny green person for his kindness and wisdom. Who in turn keeps them safe regardless of their age or standing. Who asks tiny children to advise two Masters because he respects everyone’s opinion.
Who respect other cultures and welcome them into their sacred Temple.
Who allow their members to leave whether they spent a few months as a Jedi or their whole adult lives.
Who value knowledge and accumulate it and guard it.
Who stay true to helping others even when they have been betrayed, slaughtered, abandoned, and slandered, when all their children have been killed qnd everything they held dear was utterly destroyed.
I’m obsessed with them because every day I am overwhelmed by human greed, cruelty, and selfishness, and at least in a fantasy I want to see the opposite.
If I’m ever going to be called a stan of anyone, I’m proud it’s Jedi.
The new SWTOR trailer looks great and all but I don’t think that’s even close to how the Jedi Order takes new padawans. We do see some family issues between padawan and their original family like Bastila, and there are people who genuinely believe that the Jedi are children kidnappers, but like, they simply don’t just see a gifted child and drag them away.
It would be lame if the writer actually thinks that’s how Jedi works. It would be super lame if they wrote the plot like that just to make it dramatic. I mean, it makes sense that Malgus would twist it like that to manipulate a padawan who is emotionally exploit-able (and his line is delivered perfectly) but that child snatching scene is played so wrong like, stop the “Jedi is just as bad as the Sith” shit it’s not edgy anymore lol
